The 29th Summer School came back to its birthplace to celebrate the 50th birthday of the ASV Pressbaum. Therefore, the opening ceremony was also a birthday-party with a huge cake covered with pictures of the history of the club. The president of the ASV Pressbaum, Gerhard Volk, welcomed everybody. Followed by the warm welcome of Horst Kullnig previous council member of BE and the soul of Badminton in Pressbaum. Corina Dan, Director for Communication of Badminton Europe, also welcomed everybody and thanked the ASV for the good organization and cooperation they proofed with the preparation of this event.
For the staff coaches the Saturday meant the first day of hard work. The more and less experienced staffs proofed their great teamwork preparing and planning the week’s sessions for players and coaches. So, everything was ready to hold the first session for all participants after the dinner.
The players started with fun games to get to know everybody else. They seemed to love it and finished their first get-together with an orientation – game, to get to know the whole campus of Sacre Coeur.
In the meantime, the coaches got the theoretical introduction of the program and tasks of the week.
It will be a week with a lot of badminton, but not only that it will be the chance to build up strong relationships between the different nationalities as well as getting to know new cultures.
It is great to see everybody so enthusiastic about the week to come!
Some impressions of the different participants:
The first day of the Summer School is over. Today we only had one session, where we got to know one another through different funny games.
Looking forward to rest of the week!
by Maren Kamlund (Norway), player
Today was our first day at the Summer School. There was a short opening ceremony where we learnt some of the history of the Summer School.
After dinner we had an introductory session where we got to know each other. To do this we played a number of games including dodgeball! It was great fun!
by Caroline Black (Ireland), player
Today we did a lot of funny games also to get to know each other participating at the camp. I found a lot of new friends of the players. We enjoyed the games and had a lot of fun together. In the opening ceremony we celebrated the 50years of ASV Pressbaum, 1960 – 2010. I am happy to be part of this camp!
by Gergin Nedyalkov (Bulgaria), player
After 8 hours of travel, the two coaches and four players arrived in a very hot Austria. We arrived just in time for the opening ceremony, with all nations walking in the arena with their countries national flags and a warm welcoming atmosphere.
After the opening ceremony coaches, staff and players had dinner together.
The coaches then had an introduction and information seminar where all the staff members were introduced and an outline of the week ahead. Coaches will have the chance over the week to plan, observe, lead and gain feedback and ideas from the staff coaches as well as the other coaches. After day one it would seem there is a very informative, intense and enjoble week ahead of all the coaches and players.
by John Shearer (Scotland), coach
The Summer School 2010 has got a flying start, with the celebration of Pressbaum’s 50 year anniversary as a leading badminton club in Austria, and a very active club in European badminton. This is the 4. time they host the summer school, and it will probably not be the last time… The facilities and the local organisers are as usually very good here.
As a special event this year, Badminton Europe has send their rookie organizer Lina Engel to do some work here. She is doing pretty well, at least if we compare her to Chris, who did it before her J. Her paparazzi skills are second to none, and she takes photos of anything that moves. Her fashion skills were also apparent, when she displayed a new wet look skirt at the opening ceremony (maybe next time bring a towel if you want to shower).
We have got a new baby staff this year, Lim Kenn from Malaysia. This is a big relief for An Soenens, who has had that nick name for years now. She is now “old woman staff”. Anders Thomsen from Denmark was lucky that Lim Kenn came, because he was very close to getting role, however they are now both named “Virgin Staffs”.
Thomas Mendrek and Lim Kenn also need to be mentioned here. They played a fantastic double together, but it was not quite enough against a 49 years old Scotsman and a fat Dane. Maybe next time you will get more points, if you increase the speed of your morning runs.
Fran Dacal has shown great form this year, as he has finally managed to stay up later than 10 pm. Well done! Tina Riedl is here as the local Staff, and her hospitality has been fantastic, but she has still not managed to buy a round of soft drinks for anyone yet.
Alan and Peter are looking fitter and faster than ever. If they keep this up, they will be back in 2 years time as players.
by Alan McIlvain (Scotland) and Peter Mouritsen (Denmark), staff-coaches